Jan. 20—A decision does not appear imminent, but the Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority (CSHLRA) is floating the idea of placing the Chapel of All Faiths on the market.
The facility has sustained financial losses while operating the building as an events space.
The discussion took place during a board meeting held Tuesday inside the Chapel fellowship hall.
CSHLRA Chairman Johnny Grant said the Chapel, now marketed as the Grove Events Center in conjunction with the adjacent 12-acre pecan grove, was booked for events every weekend throughout December. The church building has also already hosted four funerals through the first half of January.
"It's a facility that's very much needed in the community, so that's something we've got to consider and something I've always felt like was one of the things we did well as an authority in making it available to the community," Grant said. "But it comes at a price."
The chairman dove into the figures, giving revenues versus expenses for the last two full years. Total revenue came in at just under $30,000 in 2022. Most of that amount, $25,000, was rental fees for events. The other was through a lease with the Milledgeville Players, a community theatre group that regularly rehearses and puts on productions inside the Chapel fellowship hall. Other funding through grants also helped pull the total revenue to almost $30,000 a couple of years ago. Grant shared that expenses in 2022 were nearly $90,000, but that hefty figure does also include a significant roof repair project that came with a $65,000 price tag. Without that major capital expense, the Chapel operation broke even.
Total revenue for 2023 was reported at $25,000 while expenses were $38,000. A hike in insurance costs, something CSHLRA says it does shop around for, isn't helping the bottom line.
Grant added the caveat that not a lot of effort was put into marketing the Chapel/Grove Events Center last year. The Authority was without an executive director for all of 2023, but is getting ready to bring Mary G. Demian of Alpharetta on board next month barring any unforeseen circumstances. Actual marketing efforts along with increasing rental prices to up revenue may make CSHLRA's continued ownership of the Chapel more tenable.
"We don't need to necessarily make a decision tonight, but we have talked in the real estate committee about the possibility of seeing if there is a private party that might be interested in purchasing the Chapel ... Right now this is a loss leader for us. If we want to continue to make it a loss leader, that's fine," said Grant.